Sweet Home 15, Elmira 10
Contrasting their performance earlier in the week against Junction City, the Huskies projected a poor defense against Elmira but dominated offensively to seal a 15-10 victory at home in softball at home on Saturday.
“When you are young, you’re exciting but sometimes inconsistent,” Coach Steve Hummer said. “Against Junction City, we played great defense and could not muster much offense. Against Elmira, we played poor defense but had an offensive outburst. ”
The Huskies collected 15 hits in six innings against Elmira, led by Bayli Riggs going 4-4 with two doubles and four RBI.
Emili Riggs went 3-4 with three RBI and her second home run of the young season.
“We have a fence for the first time in school history, and Emili has the honor of being the first softball player to ever hit a home run over a fence at a home game in the history of Sweet Home softball,” Hummer said.
Ashley Cochran went 2-2 with three stolen bases, and six others collected hits.
“In the fifth inning, we sent 11 batters to the plate and collected eight hits, plating seven runs,” Hummer said.
“Defensively, Bayli did not have her best stuff working on a cold day but she battled,” Hummer said. “As for our defense behind her, we committed an unspeakable eight errors.”
The Huskies were up 7-0 after two innings and then gave up nine runs to the Falcons, committing five errors in the fourth and fifth inning, Hummer said. “The exciting part for me was we did not disappear. We answered in the bottom of the fifth in a big way, which was exciting for me to see. The girls played hard, played together and refused to accept failure.”
Scheduled as a doubleheader, the second game was lost to the weather.
The Huskies start league this week, at home with Newport on Tuesday and at Central on Thursday.
Elmira 000 541 0 €“ 10 10 4
Sweet Home 520 071 x €“ 15 15 8
WP B. Riggs
HR E. Riggs (2)
Sweet Home 4, Junction City 3
Defense led the way to a 4-3 win in the first of two games at Junction City on Thursday.
“We played a very sound, defensive game in the first of two versus Junction City,” Hummer said. “Bayli pitched the distance for the win, giving up five hits and striking out five. As a team we committed just one error and played very soundly. Paige Niemi is playing great defense right now as is Shelbey and Megan Rubidoux.”
Offensively, the Huskies hit the ball hard, but it always seemed to go right at someone, Hummer said.
Niemi went 2-4 with an RBI, and Emili Riggs went 1-3 with her first varsity homerun of the season, knocking in two runs. Laura Gourley, Gillespie and Bayli Riggs also added hits in the game.
“It was a solid win for us,” Hummer said. “We would have liked to put more runs on the scoreboard, but sometimes the hits just don’t fall. We only struck out twice as a team in the game and had numerous hard line drives hit right out Junction City defenders. They played great defense and did not commit a single error which meant they stayed in the game.
Sweet Home 000 220 0 €“ 4 6 1
Junction City 001 100 1 €“ 3 5 0
WP B. Riggs
HR E. Riggs (1)
Junction City 4, Sweet Home 1
The Huskies lost the second game 4-1.
“We again played solid defense but just could not get anything going offensively, Hummer said. “We played very flat and without life. I think the girls learned a lesson about intensity and focus. You must never overlook an opponent or lose the desire to win. We just played very lackluster, and the result was a very disappointing loss.”
The Huskies committed one error in the game, which is very good, Hummer said.
Offensively, the team collected seven hits but were unable to bunch them together, he said. The Junction City pitcher threw strikes and changed speeds, but the Huskies didn’t adjust to her off speed pitches. Bayli Riggs went 2-3 with an RBI, and five others collected base hits.
Tasha Saunders was sick the night before, Hummer said, but she battled in the circle, giving up only three hits and two earned runs in two and two-thirds innings. Bayli Riggs came in and pitched well, but the Huskies could muster little offense.
Sweet Home 100 000 0 €“ 1 7 1
Junction City 000 400 x €“ 4 7 0
LP Saunders